Lay of the Land: Navigating the Wine Outside Lands

Anyone who has ever spent any time on a crush pad during harvest knows that it takes a lot of good music to make good wine. So it makes sense that local winemakers would rally behind Outside Lands, if only to get closer to their favorite bands. The quality and variety of the wine being poured at this year’s festival is so incredible, just choosing is going to be a challenge (assuming you made it past all the craft beer). While you really can’t go wrong, we’ve taken the liberty of highlighting a few of our favorite producers who make wine that is not just enjoyable, it’s actually memorable:

Palmina: Based out of Santa Barbara, husband and wife team Steve and Chrystal Clifton’s Italian varietal wines (think Barbera, Tocai Friulano) are bright, expressive and balanced with food in mind. So if you’ve got a lamb gyro or banh-mi in one hand get a glass of Palmina in the other.

The Scholium Project: Winemaker Abe Schoener has been known to guest DJ at bars in Brooklyn (where he also makes wine). In California, The Scholium Project, which he founded just over 10 years ago, has developed a nearly cult-like following thanks to his predilection for unusual varietals and less-typical winemaking techniques (most famously, skin-fermenting white wine).

Wind Gap: Founded as Pax Mahl’s response to some of the more powerful wines he was producing under the Pax Wines label, Wind Gap’s single vineyard wines are elegant and naturally made and perfect for those who have developed an allergy to “California style” wine.